Data from: Transcriptome resources for the perennial sunflower Helianthus maximiliani obtained from ecologically divergent populations

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies provide a rapid means to generate genomic resources for species exhibiting interesting ecological and evolutionary variation but for which such resources are scant or nonexistent. In the current report, we utilize 454 pyrosequencing to obtain transcriptome information for multiple individuals and tissue types from geographically disparate and ecologically differentiated populations of the perennial sunflower species Helianthus maximiliani. A total of 850,275 raw reads were obtained averaging 355 bp in length. Reads were assembled, post processing, into 16,681 unique contigs with an N50 of 898 bp and a total length of 13.6 Mb. A majority (67%) of these contigs were annotated based on comparison to the Arabidopsis thaliana genome (TAIR10). Contigs were identified that exhibit high similarity to genes associated with natural variation in flowering time and freezing tolerance in other plant species and will facilitate future studies aimed at elucidating the molecular basis of clinal life history variation and adaptive differentiation in H. maximiliani. Large numbers of gene-associated simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) also were identified that can be deployed in mapping and population genomic analyses.

下一代测序技术（Next generation sequencing, NGS）能够快速为那些展现出独特生态与进化变异、但相关基因组资源匮乏或缺失的物种开发基因组学研究资源。在本研究中，我们采用454焦磷酸测序（454 pyrosequencing）技术，从多年生向日葵物种马克西姆向日葵（Helianthus maximiliani）的不同地理分布、生态分化的种群中，获取多个个体及多种组织类型的转录组信息。本次研究共获得850275条原始读段（raw reads），平均长度为355 bp。经过后续处理后，这些读段被组装为16681条独特重叠群（contigs），其N50值为898 bp，总长度达13.6 Mb。其中67%的重叠群通过与拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）基因组TAIR10数据库进行比对完成注释。研究鉴定出了与其他植物物种中开花时间与耐寒性自然变异相关基因高度同源的重叠群，这些资源将为后续阐明马克西姆向日葵渐变生活史变异与适应性分化的分子机制提供助力。此外，本研究还鉴定出大量与基因相关的简单序列重复（simple sequence repeats, SSRs）与单核苷酸多态性（single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs），此类分子标记可用于基因组作图与群体基因组学分析。